Phonographic reproducer.



RL B. SMITH. PHONOGRAPHIU REPBDUCEB.

unicum: nu un. 1, 190s.

936,826. vPmntea ont. 12,1909.l

` WIT/[E SSES Y INVENTOR Trackers .UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE. l

RI'CHRD BLRTHOLOMEW SIITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB T0 INDESTRUCTIBLE or BaoovxLY'N, NEW Yoan.

PHONOGBAPHIC BEPBODUCEB.

.Speccation of letters Istant. r y yApplication filed Iarch 1, 1909. Serial No. 480,5!0.

To all whom. it may concern'.- Bc it known that I, Ricnann BAirrrroLo- .nizw Siurii, a subject of the King of Great order to record and exact description.

Britain, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Plionographic Reproducer, of which the following is a full, clear.

My invent-ion relates primarily to phonographic reproducers, but may also be use in connection with phonograpliic records and generally in all relations where there is a stylus lever controllable by, or employed oi' the purpose fof controlling, a diaphragm in or reproduce sounds.

More particularly stated, my invention com Jrchends a stylus lever balanced upon a pin y aid of a single ball joint, thus reduccarries with it, as it turns, the stirrup.

I find that a stylus lever can be given great freedom of movementin various directions,

v as the .case may be,

and that the friction of the lever and parts immediately associated therewith, is greatl f reduced by the mechanism herein described, and also that the use of this mechanism tends to improve the quality richness of the tones reproduced or recorded by the device. Of course, it would bean easy matter to give a stylus lever a considerable range of idle movement, but this is not the sole purpose of my mechanism. What I seek more particularly to do is to give the stylus lever a. wide range ofmovement, whereby it may perform a large variety of movements in dierent directions and varying considerably in characier, these movements, liowever,'being, faith fully transmitted to or from the and thereby cause to vary, 'for their betterment, the tones being recorded or reproduced.

While itis im 'noticable to .show and describe theiruilt' nriousomis which be .by .luy invention., I show.;

representative form, this being sufficient to enable rsons skilled in the art to understand t e principles involved and to make and use the construction.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, 1n which similar characters of refer- Patented Oct. 12, 1909..

ence indicate corresponding parts in all the I figures. Y

Figure 1 is ar substantially central Vertical section through a phonographic rprodncer made in accordance with my invention, this view disclosing a movable weight and a stylus lever pivotally mounted relatively to said We'o'ht by aid of my improved ball f joint Fig.

2 is a rear elevation of the reproducer; Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section through the upper ortion of the reproducer` showing the sty us lever and my improved mounting for the saine; and Fig.A 4 is a fragmentary section substantially upon the line- 4-4 of Fig. 3,

At 5 is a dome-like casing which is provided with a neck vG for facilitating the attachment of a horn. The casing is provided with an annular portion 7 and with ancouipartment 8 in which is mounted a diaphragm 9. -A bracket 10 is, by aid of a pin upon the aniuilar portion Y. A weight 12r havin" generally au annular Aforni is journalediy aid of a. 13 upon the bracket 10. A irnlspring 14: brac 'et 10 ,and with the weight, gives the weight more other pari; The weight is providedwith a central opening 15. Mounted upon the weight and projecting radially therefrom is 11, mounted nnected with the or less tension relatively to a pin 16 which engages a hook '17, thus servas a limiting stop lfor motions of theI lg we sleeve 18 extends entirely through the weight- 12 and is secured rigidly thereto by aid of a set screw 19 which fits into .a bearing i9, this bearing being shown in Fig. 4. The sleeve 18 is threaded internally, and ex- ,tending entirely through it is a bolt which is provided with a reduced portion :2l also threaded, and revolubly fitted upon this re Vduced' portion is a collar 22 threaded internally and provided with a stirrup 23 integral with it. i I

The stirrup 23 is provided internally wltb a convex surface :24. Mounted rigidly upon #be reduced' portion 21 of the bolt 20 1s a neck 25ear1yinga head 26, thelatter being 's herical and polished.

- extending about three quarters of ther dis` tom of the hole 28 tance through it and terminatinv in a rounded bottom, as will be understood from Figs. 3, 4. The stylus lever engages the convex surface 24, which serves as a limiting stop for it, the ball 26 tting neatly into the botand preventing undue play of the stylus lever.

At 29 is a jewel which is mounted upon the stylus lever and is used in the manner heretofore known for engaging a rotating cylinder or disk. 'A lin 30 connects the stylus lever with the diaphragm 9. The stylus lever is free to turn in two planes crossing each other, one coinciding with the axis of the threaded bolt 20 and its neck 25, the other plane crossing the axis just mentioned. These two movements in dierent planes are what might-be termed eneral swinging movements Aside from t is, the stylus lever 2T has a local rocking movement upon the ball 26 as a center.

vto

with which the stirrup can turn, way I increase the freedom, owmg The stirrup 23 has a slight turning movement, owing to the fact that the collar 22 does not fit tightly upon the reduced portion 21 of the bolt 20, and to the additional fact that the collar 32 is not ordinarily tightened against the sleeve 18 or against the weight 12. My purposein lea-ving the collar 22 slightly loose is to facilitate the freedom and in this freedom of action of the stylus lever. I call especial attention to the slight'rocking movement, above referred to. of the stylus lever 27 upon the ball 26 as a c enter. v4This last-mentioned rocking movenient is quite small in degree, owing to theA fact that it is limited by the stirrup 23, as will be seen from Fig. 4. Such movement as thus takes place, however, occurs with great to the fact that the stylus lever 27 can easily turn upon its gens-ral longitudinal axis and also to the fact that such turning movement is facilitated by the convex bottom 24 of the stirrup. i I have found that the articular depth given to the hole 28 mig t modify in a eat measure the character of the work done by the stylus lever. Where stylus levers of ordinar form are should e quite deep, extending, in the particular instance here shown, considerably past the central axial line of the stylus lever. vIn doing this, the ball 26, in exerting pressure against the stylus lever, tends to maintain the stylus lever in true position.

' It will be noted that the portion of the ball 26 sustaining the pressure is, by the v depth of the hole 28, brought to a poi-nt comparatively close to an. imaginary line' connecting the two points where pressure is ap- 15 ied on the ends of the stylus lever. This fact tends to steady the rocking action of employed, the hole 28 lever sidewise.

- over said ball,

Awith and extending same,

the lever in a plane coinciding with the axis of the bolt 20. The ull of the link 30 upon the diaphragm 9 an uponv the stylus lever 27 tends to maintain the stylus lever in proper general position when the jewel 29 is pressed upon by the cylinder or disk, so that generally the stylus lever is in stable -equiibrium, as well as in its normal position, in case no force is applied to move this stylus It, however, there be, for any reason, a sli ht tendency to rockv the stylus lever upon t e ball 26 as a center, in a plane crossing the generallength of the stylus lever, thel latter is free to yield andas soon as the disturbing force is removed the lever tends to assume its normal position.

While I show the stylus lever 27 as cony veniently supported by aid of the weight 12, I do not limit myself to this particular arrangement, or obviously the stylus lever can be su ported in any manner known in art. Teither do I limit myself to the particula s, construction shown for the stylus lever nor for the with it. v

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination of a casing, a daphragm mounted therein, av weight movable relativel f to said casing, a ba. with sai weight and supported thereby, a stylus lever provided hemispherical bottom, and a this parts immediately associated.y y

connected said stylus lever and with said diaphragm.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a weight, a neck connected therea little therefrom, a ball mounted upon sai neck, and a stylus lever rovided with a hemispherical bearing surace engaging said ball so as to swivel the same, and means for pre yenting said stylus lever from moving away from said ball.

3. The combination of ast lus lever, a weight relatively to which sai stylus lever is jourua-led, and a stirrup movable relatively to said weight and encircling said stylus lever.

4. The combination of a weight, a member extending therefrom and provided with a. bearing surface, a lever engaging said bearing surface and ada tively to said weight, an by said same, said stirrup encirclmg sai lever. l v

5. The combination of a sup orting member, a stylus lever journaled relxzitively to the a stirrup carried vstylus w1 stylus lever. a stirrup provided rtion,and a stirrup connected said co ar and encircling said 6. The combination of with a convex surface, a stylus leverl engag a. collar encircling a portion of saidsupporting member and movable relatively 'to said t ted to rock relaweight and movable .relativel to the ingr said convex surface of said stirrup, and a. member engaging said stylus lever and provided with n portion serving as a' bearing upon which said stylus lever may turn.

T. The combination of a stylus lever provided with a hole extending nearly through it, a ball mounted upon a support and extending to thev bottom of said hole, and means for connecting said stylus lever to a diaphragm. f

8. The combination of a stylus lever, 1 means for connecting thev same to a. diaphragm, a stirrup encircling said stylus ever, and a support carrying said stirrup, said stirrup being movable-relatively to said support. 1 f

9. 'In a device of the character described, the combination of a stylus lever having ad jacent to its ends two points of suspension and intermediate these ends having a hole extending into' said stylus lever to a point quite close to an imaginary straight line joining said points of suspension at the ends of said stylus lever, and a member provided with a. ball extending into said hole for the purpose of enabling said stylus'lever to turn thereupon. A

10. The combination of a weight provided with .a projectinvr member extending therefrom, a stylus lever journaled upon` said member thus projecting, and a stirrup carriedb said weight and encircling said stylus ever.

11. The combination of a weight, a sleeve extending entirel through the same, means for securing saidy sleeve ri idly in relation to said wei ht, a threade bolt extending through sai sleeve and provided with a reduced ortion,-a neck mounted upon,said reduc portion and provided with a head havingv a spherical form, a stylus lever provided with a hole into which said head tits, and means for preventing said stylus lever from leaving said head.

12. The combination of a weight, a sleeve extending therethrough, a bolt extending through said sleeve, a. stylus lever, and means carried b said bolt for engagin saidstvlus lever an forming therewith a lia-ll joint.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD BARTHOLOMEW SMITH.

Vitnesses:

WAnroN HARRISON, JOHN RRDAVIS. 

